Social Media Marketing Archives - Bruce Clay, Inc. Blog

I predict that this is going to be the year that shopping on Instagram goes gangbusters. In my 2017 digital marketing predictions I wrote:

“Shopping on Instagram: Instagram storefronts and affiliate programs take hold. The online fashion industry is many billions of dollars, and visuals rule. Look for massive growth in the area of Instagram shopping.”

Marketers are taking note, recognizing Instagram as a potential direct response channel — especially with all the new ways shopping is getting easier on the platform.

Are you ready to add shoppable Instagram to your retail marketing mix? Read on to find out:

• If your target demographic is on Instagram.
• How people are shopping on Instagram today.
• What industries are embracing the social platform — and seeing ROI.

If you’re a marketing professional, you can’t ignore the power of social media. When used correctly, it’s an important tool to increase web traffic, brand reputation and visibility online. But how can you be sure you’re using social media correctly? How can you get more out of your social media efforts?

The first question to ask yourself is what role does social media currently play in your marketing program?

If you answered “All of the above” then you’re an organization with digital marketing maturity — you’ve run out of low-hanging fruit. So, what are you planning to add to your social marketing strategy in 2017 to be smarter, stronger and faster?

And how will you strategically integrate your social media strategy into all the other components of your marketing mix? After all, social media is just one part of an overall marketing strategy. Your marketing mix likely includes everything from SEO to paid media, social, mobile, content and more.

So, here’s your 2017 social media power play. This year, make it a priority to integrate your digital marketing efforts.

Have you ever pasted a link into Facebook or Twitter to find that the associated image has nothing to do with the content of that page, or that the post description reads like an SEO Mad Lib?

You think twice about sharing it, don’t you?

There’s a way for marketers to control the experience their content produces as it shows up on social networks including Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Control the social media content your page generates through social meta tags.

67% (two out of three) companies note that customer service in social media is gaining importance.

If your business is in business it’s because you’ve committed to a new set of marketing best practices. Marketing in the digital age is centered on being open about your professional mission, prioritizing your customers’ voices, cutting back on the sales pitches, and getting noticed for going above and beyond.

… Which brings us to Snapchat.

Snapchat is a social platform whose community rewards openness, intimacy and authenticity.

It’s the app millennials (17- to 34-year-olds) use to chat with friends and get their entertainment and lifestyle news.

The Facebook algorithm takes into consideration engagement, relevance, timeliness, and thousands of other factors in an effort to populate a user’s News Feed with more of the stuff they want to see, as inferred by Facebook.

Unlike sites where everything you post automatically appears on the timeline of every person who follows you, Facebook uses an algorithm to dictate what content shows up in an individual’s News Feed.

In a sentence, the Facebook algorithm weighs factors to determine on a post-by-post basis whether a post is qualified to pass into an individual’s News Feed. For more on the Facebook algorithm and how to get maximum reach for your posts organically, read What is the Facebook Algorithm?

Is your company ready to invest in social media tools? Do you want something that monitors fans, followers, shares, mentions and more across every social network, tracked over time? Could you use a platform that tracks clicks to a site and conversion events?

Last year, that was the situation we found ourselves in — looking for social media software that could help us better track our key metrics. But with so many social media marketing tools out there, I was given the task of researching the marketplace. After doing myriad trials with companies including Sprout Social, Quintly, Simply Measured, Datapine and Nuvi, I want to share my research with other brands, businesses and agencies so that you’re ahead of the game when you start looking for the social media tools that are right for your company.

How can search and social marketing teams work together to make both their efforts more effective? You can use social media as a distribution network for content, but realize that today, organic social traffic is not guaranteed. In the session “SEO & Social: Let’s Dance!” at SMX Advanced, speakers Jason White, Maggic Malek and Travis Wright will share the latest ways marketers can leverage the social world to help advance SEO, build brand awareness, and engage with prospects. From employee advocacy to remarketing ads, there are many options in the overlap between search and social.

Raise your hand if you’d jump on Larry Kim’s pyramid scheme if given the chance. I know I would. I wouldn’t even need to know what it was about to trust that it was a gold mine (and that it probably wasn’t all that scheme-y).

It turns out that the WordStream founder’s pyramid scheme is a real thing, and it’s not even shady! It’s just a memorably scandalous name for a cutting-edge social media advertising tactic. And he’s letting all of us search and social PPC advertisers in on it.

I had a chance to interview Kim in advance of his social hacks presentation at the SocialPro conference taking place today and tomorrow. We jump right in to his uber-powerful paid social advertising tactics that boast 20% to 40% click-through and engagement rates.

This interview is 20 minutes of action-packed insight on how to reach your target market through Facebook and Twitter — where the competition is low, the cost is low and the ROI is high, if done right.

Together search engine optimization and social media marketing create a powerhouse effect that drives traffic to your site, builds buzz and creates brand awareness. And while both are worthy forces on their own, when combined they’re even stronger. Jason White, the VP of SEO & SEM at Dragon Search and Maggie Malek, the head of social at The MMI Agency, agree 100% — and next week, we’re all headed to Seattle to lead sessions at SocialPro and SMX Advanced.

But we couldn’t wait. We were ready to start talking about #RelationshipGoals when it comes to SEO & SMM. Ready to take your business’ search and social relationship to the next level? Check out this video!

Are you evaluating the many social media networks and aren’t sure which would return the most benefit for your investment if you were to build an active presence for your business?

With so many choices, kicking off social media marketing can be overwhelming. To help you choose the best fit social networks for your business, we’re shining a light on:

• The primary user base of the most popular social networks
• What brands are doing to find success marketing on each
• Guidelines for determining if your business could be a good match for marketing, branding, community building or customer service on each platform
• And any special considerations to be aware of that engagement on the platform may require

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